When Technology Meets Tyranny

As China heads full force into developing AI weapons, the West needs to take a stand

These cartoon images of the "Beijing Internet Police" started appearing on Sept. 1, 2007 every 30 minutes on computer screens run by 13 major portals based in Beijing, as a warning to internet users that they are being watched. STR/AFP/Getty Images

Back in May 2014, Stephen Hawking, along with several other scientists, warned the world: “Success in creating AI [artificial intelligence] would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, it might also be the last, unless we learn how to avoid the risks.

“In the near term, world militaries are considering autonomous-weapon systems that can choose and eliminate targets; the U.N. and Human Rights Watch have advocated a treaty banning such weapons.”

Developing High Tech

While the international press is being hyped up these days by the world’s first AI news anchor—a computer-generated host of China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency, few are aware of an unnerving AI weapons development program at Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), one of the top weapons research facilities in China.